As soon as the flag was down, the racers sprang into action. Both the town's Head Magus, a lady in a white witch's hat, tackled Stonecrest, the armor-wearing chief director of a local big school, and the two went tumbling down the right while the coffee shop owning vampire, often called Owner or Boss, dove to the left. All the other local racers were sent flying into the great blue sky by a giant whirlwind that was created by an explosion of magic and raw strength when Definitely Not the Queen of the North Mountain Dragons, Christmas Dino and Jing the Crimson Storm kicked off and tore through the street.
"Unsurprising, in the lead we have the Christmas Dino, followed by Jing the Crimson Storm and Definitely Not the Queen of the North Mountain Dragons. Everyone else was sent flying away in a tornado. Someone call a medic, because they're sure to need one! And the rescue squad!
"The only ones left in the race, are the Royal Guard Captain who stopped himself from flying away by stabbing his sword into the ground and holding on, and Sir Wilder who was saved by the Royal Guard Captain."
Before he was sent flying himself, the Captain of the Royal Guard had pulled out his sword, stabbed it into the ground and held on with his right hand while his left arm was hooked around Sir Wilder, a goblin with face paint and hairdo that made him look like he belonged more in a heavy metal music band than in royal knighthood. The sword, a huge, shiny claymore with fancy decorations, stuck firm against the powerful gusts which saved the two visitors from the Royal Capital from an unplanned trip to the clouds with the other racers.
"Thanks, Captain," Sir Wilder said.
To which, the king's bodyguard replied, "Just doing my job, sir."
They were joined by the Head Magus, Stonecrest, and the coffee shop Owner who returned to the starting line as Howard spoke.
"We also still have the Head Magus and Director Stonecrest. The Head Magus pushed the director down, but since it was to save him from being blown away, she'll get away with just a yellow card this time. And we got the coffee shop Owner who jumped out of the tornado's reach."
"I've waited a long time for this," Sir Wilder said. And then he pointed his finger at the coffee shop Owner. "Finally, we settle the score, Trickster!"
The coffee shop Owner blinked, looked at the goblin blankly and asked, "Have we met before?"
Sir Wilder was thrown off-balance, flabbergasted.
He shouted in dismay, "You forgot me?" But he quickly recovered, cleared his throat and said, "Well, no matter. I will make sure that after today, you will never forget me again! By beating you in this race, I will finally wipe clean the stain you left on my honor all those years - HEY!"
While Sir Wilder was monologuing, the coffee shop Owner turned and ran, with his long, black cape fluttering at his back. A few seconds later, both Stonecrest and the Head Magus appeared close at his heels.
"Get a look at this, folks!" Howard cried out, picking up tempo. "Despite the huge gap with our three forerunners, it looks like the coffee shop Owner's decided to jump into the race anyway! And right behind him are Stonecrest and the Head Magus, neck and neck! That just leaves our two visitors from the Royal Capital who are now dead last, not counting all the dudes and gals that got blown away to the other side of the kingdom!"
The Royal Guard Captain looked at Sir Wilder.
With a sigh, Sir Wilder flapped his hand a couple of times and said, "Just go."
After giving their surroundings a quick look around and making eye contact with royal guards mixed into the crowds, the Royal Guard Captain nodded at Sir Wilder and then took off running after the others. The knight with the heavy metal rocker look soon followed.
While running to catch up to the over-powered frontrunners, the coffee shop Owner spoke to the Head Magus.
"You know it's kind of pointless to stay in the race, right?" the vampire said. "It's not like you're got a chance at the grand prize with those three so far ahead."
"I wouldn't call it pointless," said the Head Magus. "I realized that Sir Wilder was right. If there's ever a time to settle the score with you, now's that time. There probably won't be another."
"Not that I care about that sort of thing myself anymore," said the coffee shop Owner.
"Then what's your reason for sticking around? You have just as much a chance of winning as I do."
"I'll explain later," said the coffee shop Owner. "Just know that I got one."
"In my case," said Stonecrest, suddenly just cutting into the conversation like it was natural, "it would set a bad example for the students if I, a teacher, quit halfway because of unfavorable odds."
Turning his attention back to the road ahead, the coffee shop Owner spotted a huge stone wall blocking the way. He observed it was about five feet taller than the buildings sandwiching it and reinforced by a shell of shimmering pink light.
Howard's voice came through from loudspeakers and said, "Looks like the coffee shop Owner, our town's Head Magus and Paladia School's chief director have finally reached the first obstacle: THE IMPENETRABLE WALL!
"Well, it's supposed to be impenetrable, but Christmas Dino, Definitely Not the Queen of the North Mountain Dragons, and Jing crashed through the first one like it was made of paper. Luckily, we thought something like this might happen and had magicians on standby make a new one. Seeing them on their knees and sweating buckets, I can tell they must have gone all out on this new wall. Just how will our remaining racers pass through this one?
"First, we got the coffee shop Owner who just breathed out a cloud of black smoke, which he tore in half and stuck to his feet. Aaand he jumps up, goes down, and now he's over the wall! What do you make of this, Daisy?"
"Well, Howard," said Daisy, "basically what happened was the smoke he stuck on his feet were like springs that gave him an extra bounce which helped him jump over the wall like some kind of super bunny. It's not all that impressive as far as magic spells go, but the height he reached in just one jump really shows how much skill and power he has as a spell caster. Most spell casters would need to jump again midpoint somewhere to reach that high."
"In other words, to most people, it's not all that flashy, but to an expert, it shows he's a master," Howard said. "Now let's see how our other contestants get through. As an unwritten tradition of the Featherkeep Grand Prix, every year we get racers trying to show off what they got as stylishly as they can, so I'm looking forward to seeing what this year's racers got."
"Though, it looks like our frontrunners don't really care about style," Daisy added. "They're just bulldozing through everything in their way."
"Anyway," went Howard, "looks like my boss, the Head Magus decided to figure-skate her way over the wall. She's stuck ice blades beneath her feet and slid up the side of Byron's Barber Shop before kicking off with a triple axel somersault. Aaaand she sticks the landing, making a huge heart shape on the ground before going after the coffee shop Owner! What a performance! Right, Daisy?"
"Right you are, Howard," said Daisy. "But I have to make a correction."
"Oh? What kind?" asked Howard.
"You said that the Head Magus used ice blades, but actually, she was using water blades," Daisy said. "And glowing water blades at that! There's a trail of light that traces her path and that heart shape she made. And as the light fades, and as the water evaporates, you can see that there's not a scratch on the barber shop. If she had used ice blades, there'd definitely be a mark."
"Which Byron would NOT be happy about, if it happened," said Howard. "Leave it to the Head Magus to watch what she's doing so she won't cause others trouble. And speaking of Byron, here's a message from our sponsor, Byron's Barber Shop: Want a 'do that's just for you? Head over to Byron's Barber Shop! Now let's get back to the program."
Using his helmet, which he magically transformed into a rapidly spinning cone shape, Stonecrest dug a hole in the ground and tunneled his way past the wall. Both the Royal Guard Captain and Sir Wilder threw grappling hooks to the top buildings at either side of the wall, climbed up, hopped over to the next buildings, and then climbed back down.
"All right!" went Howard. "So far, everyone but whoever got blown away is still in the race. They've all made it past the wall. But will they be able to get through this next obstacle, the dreaded Glue Shower!
"Like the name suggests, there will be wizards waiting around the corner on rooftops who will be raining huge globs of glue down on our racers' heads! They've been told this already, but as a reminder, the racers are NOT allowed to strike back at the wizards throwing glue at them. And of course, with glue flying everywhere, the road got covered with the stuff!
"And in case you're wondering how our frontrunners got through the Glue Shower, despite supposedly being hard to get rid of magically, all the glue evaporated into steam before they could touch any of them!"
Without stopping, the coffee shop Owner threw his hand behind him and drew out a long, black umbrella from seemingly out of nowhere. The umbrella sprang open like a blooming flower as he held it up over his head.
"Unbelievable, folks!" Howard shouted excitedly. "The coffee shop Owner's sliding across all that glue like he's skating on ice! And all the glue that's tossed his way is just sliding off an umbrella he pulled out of his cape! Just what in the world's going on? Any ideas, Daisy?"
"It's Magical Friction Erasure," Daisy said. "Both his umbrella and his shoes, probably his cape and tuxedo too, have been enchanted so anything with magical energy loses friction and just slides right off. Part of what makes the glue hard to get rid of magically is because the glue itself is enchanted and covered in magical energy. The coffee shop Owner's using the glue's own magical protections against it."
"I'm guessing that's not an easy thing to pull off?"
"No, it is not," said Daisy.
She was equally impressed by the Head Magus who summoned all the water in the atmosphere to make an ever-growing floating platform over the road to run on while more water gathered over her head in the shape of a hollow dome and protected her from falling glue missiles. And she had a wall of water fly right in front of her to protect herself from the glue that slid off the coffee shop Owner's umbrella.
The Royal Guard Captain conjured several large, circle-shaped shields out of the palm of his right hand. They could fly and he jumped on one while the others clustered together and circled around. Flying was not allowed in the race, but Howard O.K.'d it because it looked like the king's bodyguard was still running.
Sir Wilder also conjured a shield, a single big one that flew over his head. He stopped just a little bit to cast a magic spell on his shoes before he continued running. Thanks to that spell, whenever he slipped off a shoe that got stuck in glue, a new shoe appeared on his foot in a flash of light. He left behind a long, long trail of shoes while trying to keep up with the others.
More obstacles awaited the racers running up and down the streets of Featherkeep. But with a bit of cleverness, creative magic talent, and of course physical fitness, the coffee shop Owner and those at his heels overcame them all. On the other hand, Christmas Dino, Definitely Not the Queen of the North Mountain Dragons, and Jing simply tore through whatever was in their way without slowing down.
The fearsome threesome shredded ten-feet tall teddy bears, popped bubbles that were meant to ensnare and trap them, and smashed through narrow poles that they were supposed to hop on. They didn't even hesitate to plunge into a block of darkness that covered one end of an avenue to another. And when groups of men and women loitering on rooftops tossed down heavy nets, the nets burst into flames and turned to ashes that got blown away by the wind.
Christmas Dino, Definitely Not the Queen of the North Mountain Dragons and Jing the Crimson Storm of Zhao were simply, and literally, untouchable.
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